


My Strength is your Strength

by SilverNight88



Series: Sea of Diamonds [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), X-Men, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Kissing, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Old Lovers, References to Illness, Scott Summers - Freeform, Sick Character, Yearning, emma takes care of him, namor is sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 09:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14446521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverNight88/pseuds/SilverNight88
Summary: Namor falls ill and Emma tries to comfort him, their past relationship brings up memories and yearning for the future but will Emma take that final step and join Namor? Or will she let her duty to the X-Men and her love for Scott keep her on the surface world?





	My Strength is your Strength

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during Uncanny X-men (1963) #531 with references to Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual #2 (2009).

** My Strength is your Strength **

 

He placed a hand against the wall in the hall to steady himself, no to _brace_ himself.

Kings braced themselves they didn’t need to get steady because they were never unstable. He braced himself against the wall and took in a breath, his lungs were not getting enough air, and his gills attempted to bring in more oxygen but were useless in the dry air. Maybe if he made it back to the water he would feel better. His head had begun pounding at the meeting Summers had called earlier and he had tried to see if it was his usual headache brought on from all the years of trauma and amnesia or something else. Then he began to cough later in the day as he was walking along the perimeter of the island making sure that the land they were on was still stable and not in need of more bolstering from below the water line. Later he had finished listening Scott and Erik argue in the second meeting of the day, Scott sure loved meetings, and Namor’s coughing had quickly turned into a runny nose, he had never been sick in his life. He didn’t get runny noses, he excused himself from the room by simply walking out and now in the hall he had to stop and try to breathe.

His chest heaved with the labor and a cool touch on his mind intervened in his thinking of why he was feeling this way.

<You left that meeting rather abruptly Namor. I had hoped you would have stayed to provide some bantering with Erik. I do so love to see you get the old man all riled up. I could’ve used the entertainment.>

Emma’s amused thoughts flowed over his outer thoughts like a soft wind but he couldn’t form a reply as his coughing began to worsen, hands on his knees now, as he tried to hack up a lung.

<Namor?>

Her thought speak sounded worried now and Namor wondered how she could do that. Thoughts were thoughts they weren’t supposed to sound like anything. His vision went dark as the floor rushed up to meet him.

*****

Namor fell back in the bed and spoke no more as the others left the room and shut the door behind them. The light was closed as well.  At least he had a room to himself as was befitting a king yet it rankled to have to be confined to the bed and if only he would stop coughing then he would be able to think clearly, his diagram hurt from the constant coughs. He shivered as the fever began to increase, how could a person be hot and cold at the same time? It was ridiculous he was always healthy and so now to be brought so low by an invisible microscopic enemy was new and uncharted territory for Namor. He reached for the box of tissues that was next to him and pulled several, wiping away his nose and then tossing the used napkins onto the floor. He collapses back, his eyes half open as he stared blankly into the dark room.

A cool familiar touch on his mind yet again and Namor braced himself again, he didn’t like anyone going though his mind, his thoughts could be used as a weapon against Atlantis and he had to protect his people. Even if that person was the lovely Emma Frost.

<I thought to check and make sure you haven’t died>

<Would you be pleased at that prospect Ms. Frost?>

Emma’s light chuckle echoed in his mind fading away like a bird’s song on the breeze.

<Oh no Namor if you died then who would I speak to during one of the boring X-Men meetings?>

This was good, he could focus on her voice and not on his illness and maybe he could just rest.

<I don’t remember coming to clinic… was that your doing?>

<Yes, I alerted the nearest team member and they carried you in.>

<Bah. I am fine… just a little rest and I will be back in Atlantis…>

The medication that the doctor had given him had begun to work as its drowsy effects took hold and he slipped off into dreams.

*****

As she felt Namor slip into slumber Emma took one hand off her temple where she had just been concentrating on mind speaking to Namor and looked around the room of students she had today. She sat back in her chair and focused on the work that lay across her teacher’s desk as the rest of the class continued their silent work. Their minds buzzed in the quiet of the room as she continued grading the papers of the last class to take the test. She sent one of the students who had been trying to sneak peeks at the student next to him a mental message to keep their eyes on their own paper.

Emma loved teaching students, maybe it had to do with her own past and upbringing; her father and mother had been so far removed from the lives of their children unless they had a social event or gala that they had to show off their offspring to.

She wasn’t worried for Namor, why should she be? Their past not withstanding Namor could take care of himself and didn’t need her. However for the rest of the day she kept her mind open enough to sense if he would awaken. Namor didn’t like people prying into his mind and Emma respected that but she couldn’t help herself sometimes.

Her mind caught the passing of the Stepford Cuckoos in the hall, her daughter/clones were a handful but she loved them dearly. Scott’s mind buzzed with worry and she sighed as she picked up another test to grade. She and Scott were like two people living together but apart, the old flame that was there was gone and Scott didn’t even try to engage her in anything that wasn’t about the school or the team or the students. She should break it off cleanly but she was afraid to lose yet another person. Was that a good enough reason to stay in a relationship?

The bell rang and Emma said in clear strong voice that didn’t betray her inner worries, she was an ice queen after all, “Pencils down and please bring up your tests students. You are dismissed for lunch.”

At lunch she sat eating with Scott she couldn’t help but think about Namor. Scott was talking and she was halfheartedly agreeing with him not really in the conversation and the worst part was that Scott didn’t even notice.

Later after the school day was done and Emma was in the shower he felt Namor’s mind stir out of dreams, she didn’t listen to his dreams afraid of what to find there, and she was glad he was awake, but too soon after he was back asleep, and Emma finished her shower, wrapping the towel around her body, she prepared for bed. Brushing out and drying her hair, moisturizing her arms and legs, and going through her nightly routine. Scott had already fallen asleep as she sat on eh edge of the bed and looked down at him with a wine glass in her hand, she sipped slowly, she wouldn’t be like her mother who took to drinking too much before bed each night then passing out wherever she was sitting, however it did help her relax. Scott was handsome, but he was too good sometimes, too worried about everyone and Emma was the one who worried about him, now she couldn’t help but t think of Namor yet again. She reached out one more time before bed and felt him still sleeping but this time he was agitated as his dreams turned to nightmares.

Emma should stay, this was her place, yet she couldn’t help it as her feet moved down the hall towards the clinic and medical ward of the building, she was still in her white nightgown and a silk robe holding a wine glass in her hand. Anyone who passed her didn’t stop her, she had walked at night before and so this wasn’t an unusual sight.

Now she stood at Namor’s beside. He was a large man; more heavily built than Scott, the bed looked too small to hold him and she remember that night they had years ago when she had been working for the Hellfire Club.

She missed it.

She missed him holding her in his strong arms as they were cocooned in his blankets. Thousands of miles beneath the sea it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Emma took another sip as she watched Namor begin to toss and turn, his nightmares hovering on the edge of her mind, his body covered in sweat as it tried to heal him. The virus attacking him from within.

Emma didn’t know why she did it, maybe it was nostalgia, or pity, or just genuine need to take care of Namor but she set her half empty glass of wine down on the table and prepared a wet cloth in bowl which she carried over to Namor, she set down a chair close to the bed and then with strong sure movements she began to clean his forehead. His hand shot out and grasped her arm and she went still trying hard not to go into diamond form like she usually did when she was too startled, he was strong and if he wasn’t in control of his actions… then he could hurt her.

His green eyes fluttered a bit, unfocused as they took her in, his deep husky voice a murmur, “Emma… what…”

“Shhh Namor. You’re sick; let me care for you as you once did for me.”

His grip loosened and she slowly began again, dipping the cloth into the water bowl and this time bringing it up to his gills, as soon as the water touched them Namor let out a relieved gasp, his chest rose sharply and his eyes seemed more alert. She did it again to the other side of his neck. His gaze tracked her and Emma was reminded of how he used to look at her, of how he still did.

Her thoughts were mired in the past remembering how Namor had saved her from drowning, he didn’t have too and to be honest she wasn’t counting on him to do so. She truly thought that she was dying and she would have done anything to get away from Shaw. Her pale hands moved in a gentle soothing motion, her breathes were light, and her ice blue eyes didn’t leave Namor’s body, unable to look into his eyes and see the heat she could feel in his mind. He wanted her, more than any person in the world had ever wanted her, he wanted her because she was Emma, she was a white queen, she was diamond personified, deadly, cool and dangerous, but with one single flaw she could crack into a thousand pieces.

“I’m with Scott.”

He didn’t ask but she knew he wanted to, wanted to ask her to be with him, to come to Atlantis, to love him. He was so lonely; she could feel that in his thoughts, he was maybe the loneliest person Emma had ever met, including herself, she had built a life for herself, and the X-Men now respected her, what would they do if she left? She wanted him, that was no doubt, but just as how Namor had been afraid to admit he was a mutant, she was afraid to admit her feelings for him.

Feelings that could shatter her.

She finished cleaning him and he didn’t answer her, she took another drink, draining her whole glass before wiping her pink lips with the back of her hand.

“Emma…”

She stood and walked over to the sink, rinsing out her wine glass and filling it with cold water before bringing it back to him. She gently placed the cup to Namor’s lips and he drank it in slow sips, his eyes never leaving hers. How could he affect her so? How was it even after all these years Namor’s touch was still fresh in her mind? Why did she wish to hold him and let her lips touch his once more?

She watched his Adam’s apple as it bobbed with his sips, he was handsome, very handsome, and she always knew that but time had softened the memory of the raw masculinity and power that he possessed, she felt that now, he looked like a caged animal lying in the bed, just waiting for his strength to return so that he could pounce.

“Thank you Emma.”

His voice, deep and soft made Emma’s spine shiver as she placed the glass on the bedside table. She should leave now, go back to her room, go back to Scott…

“Emma?”

She didn’t say anything as she slipped off her robe, it pooled around her ankles, and still wearing her white nightdress crawled into the bed with Namor, it was a tight fit, He was a large man and though she was much smaller than him the bed seemed small. He shifted to make her more comfortable.

Snuggling under the thin hospital blanket her body was now flush with Namor’s body. Her slender arms wrapping around him and she lay her head down on his muscled chest. She was silent as her blue eyes stared out into the darkened clinic room; it was quiet except for the machines making noises and Namor’s heart beating beneath her ear. She felt his body, warm because of his fever, and she clung to him unlike any other she had laid with before. This was less a sexual thing than a need, a yearning need for comfort, for someone to hold her.

Namor’s strong fingers, which had killed men in the past, gently glided through her blonde hair, petting her as she placed one of her legs on his thigh. She gave him a small squeeze, hugging his body closer to her.

He didn’t stop running his fingers though her hair when she finally spoke, “You once said… said that your strength was my strength and that you would be there for me. I saw into your thoughts, I know you told me the truth but that was then… do you still feel that now? Or are you just playing games with my heart Namor?”

“I meant it Emma,” came Namor’s soft reassurances, “I will always tell you the truth, and you have my word that anything you want I would move the very seas to give to you.”

“I’m confused Namor, I feel things with you… I love, loved Scott, but we’ve drifted apart, like two ships passing in the night, we know the other is there but its different now. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“I know.”

“They say my heart is made of diamond. That I am as cold as the form I sometimes take. It’s true. I have to be. Be cold and hard to survive… but with you… you make me warm. You melt me in ways that I can’t describe.”

“So tell me.” Namor says his finger lightly touching her temple, “Tell me in a way you can explain it. Trust in me Emma, I love you.”

She lets out a breath and she touches him with her mind and lets all of her thoughts and emotions flow into him like a kaleidoscope of colors fractured into diamonds, her feelings of wanting him, of being held in his arms, of laughing with him like they did once, of kissing him. She bared her soul to him just as he once did to her. Namor shuddered as the thoughts were placed in his head, he hugged her tight and buried his face onto her hair murmuring, “I understand, I do, I won’t force you Emma, no man ever could but just know, that I am here, I will always be waiting.”

Emma gently pulled her thoughts back and she finally relaxed, finally slipped off into sleep and for the first time in months dreamed of something that wasn’t all ice and cold and diamonds, she dreamed of warm sandy beaches, and water around her ankles as she held onto a strong hand that beckoned her deeper into the sea.

******

Namor watched her sleep; she was so beautiful, she was a woman who was born to be a queen, a fighter and a more than the ice queen people saw her as. His heart ached, he wanted to hold her like this every night but this was fleeting and rare, she would leave him like all the others to run back to another man.

For now he spooned around her, enjoying her closeness, and wishing he could keep her forever. He slipped off into a dreamless sleep brought on by the medicine and when he awoke she was gone from his bed, it felt empty and cold.

For the next few days she stayed away physically but would visit him in his mind, they laughed together as they walked along the memories of sandy beaches and warm days; Emma’s illusions were so real Namor felt he was there instead of in his bed. They spoke of their lives, and realized how much the other didn’t know about each other, they sometimes said nothing at all as they sat on a mental beach at night watching the stars in the sky and felt the waves lap at their bare feet. Each night Emma would slip away and Namor would call to her before she left.

“Come with me Emma, back to my home, it can be yours too, you will always have a place waiting for you in Atlantis” and each night she would smile and say, “Namor I feel almost as though you are trying to steal me away, I do have my duties here you know.” Her tone not revealing how much she wanted to go.

*****

Five days later Emma walked to the clinic, she was finally unable to stay away but pretending that this was just a visit, she hadn’t been in the same room as Namor since the night they had slept together, her heart beat at the thought of seeing him face to face again.

She stopped when she saw the bed was empty. The King of Atlantis was gone.

She cast her mind out and found him in Atlantis, recovered from his illness and trying to get back to making sure his people had been doing fine without him, his mind was busy and full of thoughts of council meetings. She felt hollow, like all the time they had spent together these last few days were nothing more than sea foam, quickly forming and then disappearing. Emma spent the rest of the day walking as though her heart had been ripped out, he hadn’t even said good bye, it was ridiculous because she knew she would see him again, in another team meeting or crisis, she knew Namor would be there but the thought that he hadn’t even sought her out before returning to the sea made her angry.

Later that night she sat up in bed unable to sleep and she felt Scott turn around, she didn’t mind it until he sat up also and asked, “Emma?”

“Oh Scott dear, don’t mind me. I just can’t sleep.”

“I know.  I also know that you haven’t been a lot of things lately, most of all you haven’t been happy.”

“Scott? I don’t know-“

“Its fine Emma, I’ve had time to come to the realization myself, we were happy once but it’s like we lost that thing that kept us together you know?”

Emma stayed quiet now she didn’t want to confirm it, she didn’t want to hurt Scott.

“He came to me you know.” Scott said in her silence.

“Who?”

“Namor. He came to me and said that he would stop pursuing you, he felt that you were unhappy and he didn’t want his attentions to make you feel worse, he only wants you to be with the one you love.”

“Scott I-“

“No Emma. Let me just- let me finish ok? I want the same thing, this whole time I thought Namor was just doing this to mess with me but he really does love you, even I can see that and you know how clueless I can be sometimes. So just, please do want makes you happy and stop worrying about me.”

“Scott… I love you I do, you made me happy and given me a place here among the x-men…”

“Emma you will always have a place here, but don’t let anything tie you down. I love you too.”

Scott have her a soft peck on her cheek before getting up for an early morning training session, Emma watched him get ready and her thoughts were swirling around, the fact that Scott wouldn’t hate her did mean a lot to her, even though she often acted like other people’s thoughts about her didn’t matter, and they didn’t, the people who were close to her did matter. She got up and gave Scott a soft kiss goodbye, before holding his face in between her hands and saying, “Thank you.”

Then she was gone, racing out of the room still in her ivory white nightdress, her bare feet flashing from beneath the hemline and her blonde hair streaming behind her. The moon was her only light and racing down the school steps to the shoreline of the island and into the waves, her clothes soaking as she waded out into the water, then swimming until she felt her arms hurt and she finally changed to her diamond form when her breath began to give out.

She swam downwards into the vast ocean, the waters growing darker as she swam further and further from the surface, even if it were day she still wouldn’t have been able to see far in front of her face. Her diamond form gleamed in the darkness, a brilliant shining thing, her skin was smooth as the jewel and she was glad for her diamond armor protecting her.

Then, just as she knew he would come, he appeared.He was beautiful, his swimming was as silent as a shark and as he came to her, his eyes were surprised as they took her in, seeing her beauty in the ocean.

Namor came to her and caught her in his arms, “Emma.”

“Namor.”

“Release yourself from this prison Emma, don’t close yourself to me.”

“If I let go of my diamonds, I’ll die.”

“No. You will live. This Namor swears.”

He kissed her diamond lips and pulls back, “I love you as you are, and you never need hide from me.”

Emma hesitated but only a moment then she let go, she trusted him and her diamonds disappeared until there was only Emma, not the White Queen, being held in Namor’s arms.

Her blonde hair floating in the water as her oxygen was leaving her body Namor gave her a kiss and the oxygen she needed to survive, she clung to him, her cold heart was warming and when he reached out to her with his thoughts she finally felt like she was loved, truly loved with a man who was happy that she was always herself, to be Emma and to free and to love someone who would never seek to hurt her.

Namor’s thought was clear and it filled her mind as they swam into the inky blackness,

**_My strength is your strength, now and forever._ **

He carried her in his arms, down to the glittering underwater city, it was beautiful and otherworldly and it felt like she finally was going home. Emma smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and Namor swiftly took her deeper into the sea.

 


End file.
